Called DRACO, the demonstration spacecraft could reach Mars three times faster than vessels running on traditional chemical-based propulsion.
chat this morning. “DRACO will be a critical part of evaluating the technologies that will take us deeper into the solar system.”he last time nuclear thermal engine tests were conducted in the U.S. was more than 50 years ago, according to NASA.
The engine will see a fission reactor generate high temperatures to heat a liquid propellant, which then expands and is ejected through a nozzle to propel the spacecraft. NASA says that the nuclear thermal engine could be three or more times more efficient than traditional chemical propulsion. Reducing travel time to Mars and other locations in the solar system will subsequently reduce the amount of supplies needed for transit, which in turn can free up space for additional scientific payloads and more efficient communications equipment, NASA says. Melroy also explained that faster trips are safer trips since astronauts will spend less time being pelted by cosmic radiation while moving through space.
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